Driven student overcomes barriers with Partners For Success®
For any student, the start of their senior year of high school can be somewhat stressful. For Jordan, she found herself homeless in the middle of a pandemic. Fortunately, she had a friend whose family invited her to stay with them. But Jordan faced many adult decisions most students are not prepared to handle on their own. She had financial considerations. How was she going to buy necessities? How would she pay for her car insurance? Could she afford to go to college? What about her goal of becoming a nurse?
Jordan is an organized planner and a high achiever. She earned excellent grades, worked part-time jobs, took PSEO classes, and studied to become a nursing assistant. She was on track to finish school early. But now, everything was up in the air. She continued her part-time job after school but knew it would not be enough to pay for necessities like car insurance, food, and clothing.
When her high school guidance counselor discovered that Jordan was couch-hopping, she connected her with 360 Communities Partners For Success® Family Support Worker Anna. Anna reached out and began to build trust with her by listening to her and connecting her with stabilizing resources such as food, school supplies, and holiday gifts.
Anna became Jordan’s go-to person at school to talk through goals, budgeting, filling out scholarship and financial aid applications for college, and much more.
With the stabilizing supports Anna provided, Jordan studied for and passed her certified nursing assistant test, landed a college scholarship, and finished her high school credits early! Jordan is heading to Bemidji State University this fall to study nursing. “Jordan is a go-getter,” says Anna, “She is going to take every goal she sets and crush it.”
“Without Anna, without this program, I would not be where I am today,” says Jordan. “This program gave me so many resources, and Anna gave me so much confidence to believe in myself. I want anyone to know that if they are in a similar situation, or they have some self-doubt, they can do whatever they put their mind to.”